UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – This summer, pre-med students at Penn State have been coaching doctors at Mount Nittany Medical Center on how to transition from paper to electronic health records as as they strive to implement an EHR system by the end of 2011 and receive meaningful use incentives.

The experience has not only helped boost doctors knowledge of EHRs, but is also giving students a first-hand experience of what their future might look like. The 39 student coaches are stationed around the hospital from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week to help doctors, and during downtime they have the opportunity to speak with doctors and nurses about their careers and the student's field of interest.

Stephen Tingley, Mount Nittany's chief medical information officer and a former physician at Penn State's University Health Services, said he came up with the idea when he learned that in order to receive federal government funding, Mount Nittany doctors must be completely transferred to the EHR system by the end of 2011.

Coordinating 250 doctors' schedules for training seminars proved to be nearly impossible, so Tingley reached out to Penn State for help.

Tingley said he found 145 students who would be interested in the experience by recruiting students in Penn State's Pre-Med Society, Pre-PA Club and Pre-Med Honor Society, and through a pre-med academic adviser and word of mouth. He found 145 students interested in the experience, but was limited to only hiring 30 students. Of those, 29 are Penn State students; the 30th is from Duquesne University.

"This is a great experience for me to be in a hospital setting, see how it works and talk to doctors who offer good advice," said Kelby Skelton, an Erie, Pa., native who just graduated from Penn State this summer. "You don't have to keep it all [EHR] business. I ask them lots of questions. It's been great talking about their field."

This job opportunity has brought some students more experience than they expected. Tingley said one student got to meet an orthopedic surgeon through the program and was then invited to sit in on an orthopedic surgery. Another was invited to shadow a physician's assistant around the medical center when she wasn't working as a coach. Stephany Fernandez, a Penn State junior studying toxicology, said that many of the doctors have been pleasant and have offered her invaluable advice.

"I was talking to a hematologist who told me to be vigilant about becoming a doctor," Fernandez said. "She said it's a long road and that I shouldn't let anything or anyone discourage me or knock me down along the way."

Likewise, most Mount Nittany doctors have found that having the students available this summer to help them implement the program was a good idea.

"They're well-educated on the program and have been doing a great job instructing us on how to use it," said Jeff Eaton, a cardiologist at Mount Nittany. "The system is not easy to figure out, it's so different, like a maze. I'm dreading the day when they're not here."

The summer coaching program with Penn State students will end Aug. 19. Tingley said he wishes they could have the students longer to ensure doctors know the program inside and out, but he feels confident that enough hospital staff members have learned from the students how to use the program, and can help each other as needed.